Man Accused Of Bringing Stun Gun To Police Faces Sex Charges

GASTONIA, N.C.,None — The same man who brought a stun gun to the Gastonia Police department is now being accused of raping a relative.

A Gaston County woman told Gastonia Police that Harold Stephen Early raped her while she was sleeping last October, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. The 26-year-old reported that she went to Early's Dallas home because she was scared to stay at home alone while her husband worked third shift. She took a sleep aid and went to sleep in the spare bedroom around midnight, she told police.

She woke up around 5 a.m. to find Early on top of her, pushed him off of her, took a shower and left. The woman told police she didn't report the incident when it happened because she was scared of Early.

Early, 60, of 1206 Old Dallas Highway, Dallas, faces a charge of second-degree rape for that incident.

Early is also accused of going to the woman's home last Tuesday to get an air conditioning hose and sexually assaulting her. The woman told a magistrate judge that he asked her for sex and grabbed her breast, then called and asked her for sex again.

Early showed up at the Gastonia Police Department on East Long Avenue with a stun gun that same day.

Early was booked into Gaston County Police Tuesday and now has a $450,000 secured bond. His booking charges also include carrying a concealed weapon, second degree sex offense, sex offense in a parental role, statutory rape/sex offense of someone six years old or older and taking indecent liberties with a child.

WSOC